George W. Bush: Financial crisis 'blindsided' me

Former president George W. Bush says he was "blindsided" by the financial crisis that shadowed his final months in office, but adds that the Democratic-controlled Congress shares some of the blame.

Congress should have heeded his administration's proposal to more closely regulate the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage lenders, the former president tells USA TODAY in his first newspaper interview since leaving office on Jan. 20, 2009.

"The house of cards was built on, you know, risky loans, and I was blindsided by the extent of the crisis," the 43rd president told our colleague Judy Keen.

Bush spoke as his memoir, Decision Points, is to be released to the public on Tuesday.

The president also told Judy that he struggled with the decision to bail out big banks, but "I was concerned about a depression" and "it was one of these decisions where I had to set ideology aside."

For the former president's take on Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, successor Barack Obama, and other matters, check out tomorrow's edition of USA TODAY.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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About David Jackson

David's journalism career spans three decades, including coverage of five presidential elections, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 2000 Florida presidential recount and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the White House for USA TODAY since 2005. His interests include history, politics, books, movies and college football -- not necessarily in that order. More about David